


titanium

by inkin_brushes



Series: Immortals (Vamp AU) [33]
Category: VIXX
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Biting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-26
Updated: 2015-04-26
Packaged: 2018-05-27 11:25:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6282715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkin_brushes/pseuds/inkin_brushes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I’m just— I feel really—” Sanghyuk stuttered out, casting for the right word, “lost. I feel lost.” He looked away, down at the files, sitting unopened on his desk. “I’m the only one left.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	titanium

Jaehwan slumped in his armchair, a blood bag clutched in his hands. He was sucking at the straw like doing so caused him physical pain. “I’m just saying,” he said, for the tenth time, even though no one had asked him to the first time, and nobody had even said a word for the past five minutes. “You constantly having your friends over means that I cannot have _my_ friend over.”

“Sanghyuk isn’t your _friend_ ,” Wonshik pointed out. He had Hongbin’s head in his lap and was stroking his hand through Hongbin’s hair and it was remarkably difficult to care about anything else. “In fact, I don’t even think he likes you all that much.”

Jaehwan glared at him. “I was using friend in a very specific sense of the word, Wonshik. Besides, my human does like me. We have wonderfully intellectual, amiable conversations.”

“It must be hard for Sanghyuk to talk,” Hongbin mumbled, his nose smushed against Wonshik’s thigh, “with your dick in his mouth so constantly.”

Jaehwan made a noise of choked surprise, cut off quickly. Wonshik managed to keep his mouth clamped shut against the noise he wanted to make, which possibly involved retching. “Excuse you, Crazy,” Jaehwan said. “I wasn’t aware that you were in the business of commenting on other people’s sex lives, with all the noise you seem unable to stop making whenever Wonshik sticks it in.”

Hongbin didn’t seem to feel the need to deign that with a response. Wonshik kept stroking his hair, trying to ignore the sounds of Jaehwan sucking hard at the sad remnants of blood at the bottom of his blood bag. “I am just saying,” he said, again. “If Hakyeon wasn’t coming over so often, I could ask Sanghyuk over, and then I wouldn’t have to be drinking from something so pathetic as a blood bag. I have a perfectly good source of fresh blood available to me.”

Wonshik, his head resting against the back of the couch, rolled his face to the side so he could give Jaehwan a flat, unimpressed look. “Jaehwan,” he said. “I don’t care. Like, at all.”

Jaehwan gave all appearances of being _particularly_ offended by that. He drew himself up to his full height which, seeing as he was sitting down, wasn’t really that high. “This,” he said regally, “is my _home_.”

“Yeah, and it’s mine too,” Wonshik said. “You made sure of that when you agreed to change me. And I want Hakyeon to come over, so get over it.” 

“That is not how you speak to your maker,” Jaehwan hissed.

“If you’re that bothered, why not just go over Sanghyuk’s place? It’s not like you don’t know where it is.”

“Sanghyuk has mildew in his bathroom. It is very distracting.”

Wonshik snorted. “Of course it is.”

Hongbin lifted his head drowsily from Wonshik’s lap, his eyes blinking heavily. “They’re here,” he said, an odd drawl to his voice. He had been dozing then, like Wonshik had suspected.

Wonshik knew they were here too. He had felt the press on the wards. Hongbin sat up fully, stretching away the laziness in his bones, and Wonshik watched him, drinking in the lines of his body as he worked his sleepy joints. Hongbin gave him a quick, wry grin, no doubt able to pick up on his arousal ever so slightly, but didn’t say anything. 

Wonshik sighed and got to his feet, straightening his clothes. He wanted to see Hakyeon, of course he did, but it had been nice, Hongbin soft and plaint in his lap, making soft noises every so often, like a particularly pleased cat. 

They did not have to greet Hakyeon and Taekwoon at the door, and so they waited, Hongbin flopped back into the space on the couch that Wonshik had just vacated. His eyes had drifted back shut when Hakyeon flitted into the room, laughing lightly at something Taekwoon had apparently just said. 

It was still so odd to see Hakyeon moving so fluidly, to not be able to hear the strong heartbeat in Hakyeon’s chest that had been pounding away for as long as Wonshik had been a vampire. He had thought the process of changing a human into a vampire grotesquely macabre, the draining and burial so much a play around death that it felt ironic in a sense. But then with Hakyeon, it had been easy to see how much of a funeral the whole thing had been. In a sense, what Hakyeon was, who Hakyeon had been, was gone. 

What wasn’t gone, however, was in his infernal need for hugs. He gave Wonshik such a hard one that Wonshik feared his ribs might crack. Hakyeon hadn’t quite got a handle on his strength yet. “Oof,” Wonshik said, unable help himself, and Hakyeon stepped back smiling sheepishly. 

Jaehwan stood, every movement grand and unnecessary. “Ah,” he announced, in a voice like he was announcing newcomers to a ball. “It is my brother, and my nephew-slash-brother-in-law.” He paused for optimum effect. “I must say, this all feels so very incestuous.” 

“Be quiet,” Taekwoon said, teeth together just enough that it hissed a little. He had been in good enough spirits since Hakyeon had turned that he had been willing to let a lot of what Jaehwan said go, but apparently his patience had been worn into the ground. Wonshik knew that feeling.

“You can’t deny it must have crossed your mind,” Jaehwan says casually, sitting down, apparently content to ignore the scowl Taekwoon was sending his way. “Having your own child for a lover is so very—” 

“So very like our master?” Taekwoon breathed out, the sound barely there, but it was enough to make Jaehwan shut his mouth with an audible snap. Something passed across his face which had Wonshik wondering, not for the first time, exactly how Jaehwan’s relationship with his maker had been, truly. 

The moment passed, however, and when Jaehwan said, “Quite, and we both know how much you hate that comparison, brother.” His tone was positively breezy, though his smile a little brittle. 

Hakyeon reached up and laid his hand on Taekwoon’s upper arm, stopping him from saying anything more, and steered him to a chair, in which Taekwoon refused to sit and instead insisted Hakyeon sit in. Or at least, Wonshik assumed that’s what happened, since the whole conversation seemed to take place in mostly silence apart from exasperated remarks from Hakyeon. 

Hongbin sat up, letting Wonshik reclaim his seat on the couch. “You look well,” he said, sounding a little unsure. 

Hakyeon smiled. “I feel well,” he said. He sounded it too. The first few visits, he’d seemed drawn, which was an odd look on a vampire. Feeding, killing, weighed one’s shoulders down. But Hakyeon was strong, he was adjusting. “It’s been okay recently. When the bloodlust goes away.”

“Ah,” Hongbin said quietly. “Yeah.”

“Oh,” said Hakyeon, and if he’d been human, he’d have flushed. “I didn’t mean— well I mean I’m sure you know— sorry—”

Hongbin started to laugh. “It’s okay, Hakyeon. I do know what you meant. I can feel it less sometimes too.”

“It’s just— it’s hard. Hard to get used to, I mean. There’s so many new things to take into account. Taekwoon says that I have especially sensitive ears but all it seems to do for me now is I pick up on heartbeats maddeningly quickly.” 

“It is not a bad thing,” Taekwoon murmured. “These senses are important.” 

“If you tell me they’ll help me survive one more time,” Hakyeon said threateningly, although the wavery smile on his face seemed to belay his tone. 

“He’s right,” Wonshik said with a shrug. “It’s all got to help, right?”

“I guess so,” Hakyeon said. He didn’t seem convinced in the slightest. 

“You should feed,” Taekwoon said. “I’ll get you a blood bag.”

Hakyeon huffed out a breath. “We— we fed on the way over, I don’t—”

Taekwoon didn’t wait for anything more. He disappeared into the kitchen, and then came back, gone one second and there the next. He had a blood bag in his hand, the other forcing a straw into it. He held it out wordlessly to Hakyeon. 

“That is mine,” Jaehwan remarked, but was ignored.

Hakyeon took the blood bag with a sigh. “I hate it when he does that,” he said, leaning around Taekwoon’s body to look at Wonshik and Hongbin. “I mean, when I was human I just thought he was moving fast, but now I’m a— a vampire too, I realise just how fast he is moving. I can’t wait to catch up.” 

“I have four hundred years on you,” Taekwoon said softly. “Drink.” 

“Sometimes,” Hakyeon said, lifting the blood bag but not drinking from it, “I’d swear he’s just showing off.”

“Nah,” Hongbin said. “He’s not Jaehwan.” 

Hakyeon laughed and took a sip from the bag in his hands. He promptly made a face, but didn’t stop sucking at the straw until half the bag was gone. When he let it go, he looked like he was going to gag some. “It’s—”

“You really will get used to it,” Hongbin said quietly. “The taste of it, I mean.” He leaned back against Wonshik, close enough that Wonshik could feel the slight shiver that went up Hongbin’s spine. “And the other stuff, too.”

Hakyeon froze, the straw halfway back to his mouth. There was an arrested look on his face, like he’d been caught in the act of something shameful. But then, it was always the elephant in the room, really, and it wasn’t like they didn’t know what he had been getting up to recently. They all knew. Wonshik and Hongbin skirted around the topic, because Hakyeon seemed a bit fragile about it still, but it was there, ever looming. Eventually he’d have to look at it directly.

“Yeah,” Hakyeon said eventually, and resumed drinking his blood bag. When it was finished, Taekwoon whisked it away, like some sort of hovering parent. Hakyeon pulled his knees onto the chair and tucked them under himself. “Mostly, I just mean that the blood in the bags isn’t that great.” 

“It’s missing most of the zing,” Jaehwan said. His eyes were glittering as he looked at them. “The zing of the magic in humans. The blood bags are a bad substitute.”

“It would be nice if they were a good substitute,” Hakyeon murmured. 

“Ah, don’t get so down about it, Hakyeon.” Jaehwan swept his arm around to encompass everyone in the room. “There is not a single person in this room who has not killed before. Countless times in the case of myself and Taekwoon. You do begin to lose count after a while.” 

“Oh my god,” Wonshik said, throwing a pillow at him which Jaehwan dodged easily. Hakyeon looked stricken. “Shut up, would you. Hakyeon, ignore him, he’s just being a dick because if you’re here, it means he can’t see Sanghyuk.”

Hakyeon nibbled at his bottom lip, but then gave a tight smile. “I suppose that’s one good thing about having to deal with his company.” 

Hongbin sat up more upright, his gaze sharpening in a way that had Wonshik looking at him with interest. “You know,” he said casually, eyes carefully turned away from Jaehwan, “I wonder if, when we have more control, Sanghyuk will let us feed off him. Then we wouldn’t be killing, would we.” 

Jaehwan was on his feet in moments. “Crazy, over my dead body,” he snapped, and then seemed to realise what he was doing. Wonshik blinked at him, a little surprised by the sudden, violent reaction. 

Hongbin hummed lightly. “I suppose we’d have to ask Sanghyuk.”

“Sanghyuk is _my_ human,” Jaehwan said, like that was supposed to mean anything. 

“Sanghyuk isn’t your human,” Hakyeon snapped. “He doesn’t belong to you. I wish you’d leave him alone.” 

Jaehwan sneered at him, mouth open to say something no doubt inappropriately cutting, but subsided when Taekwoon took a couple of warning steps towards him. “No one will feed from Sanghyuk but me,” Jaehwan said, and then he was gone from the room faster than Wonshik could blink. 

“You’re terrible,” Wonshik muttered, side-eyeing Hongbin, who grinned unrepentantly at him.

“You can’t say he doesn’t deserve a little tormenting,” Hongbin laughed, before sobering some and looking towards the hall Jaehwan had disappeared through. “I do wish feeding off Sanghyuk could suffice, but even if Jaehwan wasn’t an issue, I don’t trust myself not to harm him inadvertently, not now nor in the future.” That was a sentiment Hakyeon seemed to share, as he swallowed hard and looked to the floor. 

“There are too many of us besides,” Taekwoon murmured. After Jaehwan had disappeared, his posture had relaxed marginally, though he remained standing by Hakyeon’s seat. “Jaehwan and I could survive taking small amounts off Sanghyuk, but you three are too young. You need far more blood than Sanghyuk could ever provide at once.”

“I can’t imagine Sanghyuk would want us feeding off him anyway,” Hongbin said, shrugging. “I’ve not been in his position the same way, but it seems a rather intimate thing, a human letting a vampire feed on them.”

“It is,” Hakyeon said, expression sour, no doubt because he was unhappy that Sanghyuk was sharing such a vulnerable part of himself with Jaehwan, of all people. Wonshik preferred not to think about it, as it embarrassed him some.

“I would only feed from Sanghyuk were it the direst of circumstances,” Taekwoon murmured. He added in an even softer tone, “It would not be my place, otherwise.”

Hakyeon twitched, his expression peevish, and it reminded Wonshik so much of Hakyeon as a human that he had to work not to laugh. “Not your place? Why? Because he’s _Jaehwan’s_?”

“He is spoken for,” Taekwoon said softly, and Hakyeon exhaled through his nose, eyes narrowing in warning. “He is not Jaehwan’s, but they have an understanding, of sorts. It is not the same sort of understanding we had, when you were human, but it is still a valid one, and I imagine Sanghyuk would be just as opposed to any vampire who isn’t Jaehwan feeding on him as Jaehwan himself is.”

“I’m not entirely sure about that, to be honest,” Wonshik said, smiling a little to himself, “Sanghyuk has been known to be a bit of a bleeding heart in the past. Case in point: Jaehwan.”

“Letting us feed off him would be stupid,” Hakyeon said. “But Lord knows Sanghyuk doesn’t always make the smartest of decisions.” He heaved a heavy sigh.

Hongbin shot Hakyeon a speaking glance that Hakyeon didn’t see, and Wonshik couldn’t hold back his laugh this time.

——

Sanghyuk flopped over his desk, groaning. “I don’t want to be on paperwork duty.”

“Sorry, you lost the coin toss,” Ilhoon said smugly. He was pulling his hoodie on, preparing to go back out. The collar of it caught on his new lip piercing, a small purple stud under his bottom lip, off center to the left. He winced, touching it to ascertain it was still there. 

“I didn’t lose the coin toss, _he_ lost the coin toss,” Sanghyuk said, pointing his pen in Sungjae’s general direction in an accusatory fashion. Sungjae had the grace to look sheepish, while Ilhoon just looked patronizing, his fingertips still fiddling with his piercing. “Some vamp is going to grab you by that piercing and rip it right out of your stupid face, and I will laugh.”

“Touchy,” Ilhoon said in a sing-song tone. “There’s no need to get so personal, Sanghyuk.”

“I’ll show you personal,” Sanghyuk muttered under his breath. He tossed his pen across his desk, and it promptly rolled off and clattered to the floor. He groaned and buried his face in his hands. 

There was the sounds of Ilhoon gathering up his things, the rustle and shuffle of papers as Sungjae resigned himself to his fate and started actually working his way through the collection of paperwork in front of them. After a brief pause, Ilhoon said, “Hey, Sanghyuk.” 

Sanghyuk lifted his head just enough that he could squint at him. “I thought you left,” he said, slightly bitterly. “What?” 

“You okay?” 

Sanghyuk sat up straighter. He swallowed, trying to not let any of the confusion or mild alarm he felt cross over his face. “Yeah, of course, I just don’t want to do paperwork.” 

Ilhoon was looking at him closely, worrying one of his older lip piercings between his teeth. He was looking at Sanghyuk in that way he had which was too piercing, too intent. When he could be bothered enough to be interested, Ilhoon had a remarkably dangerous way of figuring shit out that people didn’t want figured out. It was part of what made him a good hunter. 

After a moment, Ilhoon shrugged. “You’ve just been off lately. Like you’re angrier than usual at the world.” 

“I think he got dumped,” Sungjae said in a stage whisper. 

Something shifted on Ilhoon’s face that Sanghyuk wasn’t able to place. “Oh?” 

“I wasn’t _dumped_ ,” Sanghyuk said, biting it out from between his teeth. “You can’t get dumped when you weren’t even dating anyway.” 

“But you did get dropped then,” Sungjae said, and Sanghyuk threw a nearby pen at his face.

“No,” he snapped. “He’s just— sometimes he’s busy. You know?” 

“Yeah,” said Ilhoon, grinning. “I do know. And now I’m gonna go be busy going home, while you two enjoy being busy finishing off all this paperwork.” He made to leave, turning back once he was in the doorway to say, “I hope you get some dick soon though, it greatly improves your mood.”

Sanghyuk thought about chucking all his files at Ilhoon, but decided against it, as he would be the one who would have to clean up the mess. Ilhoon had darted away anyway, laughing, and it echoed for a few beats before silence fell, and the moment had passed. 

Sungjae was flipping through a folder, but he’d done so multiple times already, and Sanghyuk wasn’t fooled. “Have I been that off?” Sanghyuk asked, begrudgingly.

Sungjae’s fingers stuttered, and he slowly closed the folder. “A bit, yeah.” He glanced up, biting his bottom lip. “I’m sorry, if you did get dumped.”

“I didn’t get dumped,” Sanghyuk said, a bit too loudly. It was true, he didn’t. He and Jaehwan weren’t dating, and their— their arrangement, was still on. They just hadn’t had a chance to see one another in ages, because Hakyeon was constantly at Jaehwan’s place. Sanghyuk couldn’t begrudge him for it, he imagined Hakyeon needed company, needed distraction, but still. This meant Sanghyuk was being isolated.

Sanghyuk scrubbed his hands over his face. “I didn’t get dumped,” he repeated, more calmly. “Honestly, and like I said, we aren’t even dating. We’re just, banging, and talking, and then banging more. It’s like what you have with Ilhoon, and Hyunsik. Nothing serious, no strings, just— sex and company.”

“Ah,” Sungjae said carefully, and Sanghyuk side-eyed him questioningly. There was a world of emotion in that one little syllable, but fuck if Sanghyuk could piece through it. “So then, why are you acting like a bee buzzed up your ass?”

Sanghyuk thought, trying to figure out how to voice his issues without giving away all the backing behind them. “I’m just— I feel really—” he stuttered out, casting for the right word, “lost. I feel lost.” He looked away, down at the files, sitting unopened on his desk. “I’m the only one left.” 

Sanghyuk could sense the lightbulb turning on in Sungjae’s mind. “Sanghyuk,” Sungjae murmured, voice soft and suddenly serious. “You’re not alone.”

“I know,” Sanghyuk whispered. And he wasn’t, Sungjae didn’t truly know the extent of it. Hakyeon and Wonshik were still around, he still had them, but he was feeling very alienated. They were vampires. They were _others_. There was a gap between them and Sanghyuk now, while a new bond had been forged between them all, a bond that left Sanghyuk out. And Sanghyuk didn’t want to join the vampire club, he didn’t, but this still, to put a word to it, sucked.

And then yeah, the lack of sex sucked too. But Sanghyuk had mildew in his bathroom and Jaehwan would apparently get the fucking vapors if he was exposed to it, so. 

Sanghyuk breathed deeply, glancing up to see Sungjae looking solemnly back at him. “I do wonder what happened to Hakyeon,” Sungjae said softly, and Sanghyuk looked away again. “I hope he’s— alright, you know?”

“Yeah,” Sanghyuk echoed dimly. He didn’t want to say anything more, didn’t want to accidentally give anything away. This was another thing too, all these secrets— they kept him from forging _new_ bonds. These were the sorts of secrets that couldn’t ever be shared.

Sungjae was tapping on his desk. Suddenly, he stood up, his chair scraping against the floor. “Hey, let’s go get breakfast.”

Sanghyuk blinked. “Nothing is open right now. Sunup isn’t for another hour or so.” 

Sungjae shrugged. “We can walk around until something does open. I think some fresh air might be nice. The paperwork will be here when we get back.”

There was no reason to protest. It wasn’t like Sanghyuk had anything better to do. So he shrugged as well and stood, grabbing his coat off the back of his chair and pulling it on.

“Hey, Sanghyuk,” Sungjae said, a little nervous, and Sanghyuk paused in the act of fixing his collar. “I’m here, you know? And Ilhoon may act like an ass but he’s here for you too. Whenever. Whatever. If you’re ever feeling— lost— we can— can hang, or. Something.”

“You have a way with words,” Sanghyuk said, then realized he was acting like Jaehwan. He paused, steadying himself. “Thank you. I appreciate it, I do. It’s— nice, knowing you guys are here. I think mostly I just need to keep busy and— not be alone a lot.”

Sungjae nodded readily, and there was silence between them as they made their way up and out of HQ. It was a silence that didn’t last long, as Sungjae seemed incapable of keeping his mouth shut for any length of time, barring when he was asleep. 

“I told Ilhoon it probably wasn’t just about the sex,” he said, shoving his hands in his hoodie pockets. It was summer, but mornings still tended to have a slight chill. “I mean, you were a virgin for ages and that didn’t seem detrimental to your mood.”

Sanghyuk felt his melancholy mood melt off a bit. “You make me regret,” he said simply, voice flat.

“Regret what?” Sungjae asked, grinning shittily.

“Every decision that led to me becoming a hunter,” Sanghyuk announced. “I want to go back in time and tell twelve year old me, don’t do it, the hours actually suck, there’s too much paperwork, and you end up being partners with an annoying idiot.”

“Ah, but an attractive annoying idiot,” Sungjae said, slightly singsong. 

Sanghyuk bit back his smile, not commenting. He’d give Sungjae that. 

——

A breeze blew, plucking at Hakyeon’s hair, his shirt. He inhaled deeply, smelling dampness, smoke, concrete. City. 

He let himself lean over, meeting Taekwoon’s side, resting his head on his shoulder contentedly. They were on the sloping roof of a building, five, maybe six stories up. The sky was clear, as clear as it could be in a place like this. Hakyeon could see the stars with startling clarity, the moon shining almost as brightly as the sun to his eyes.

“How are you?” Taekwoon whispered.

Hakyeon smiled softly, even though Taekwoon couldn’t see it. “I’m alright.” 

“Mm.” The sound was content.

Some nights Hakyeon was alright, others he wasn’t. It was in their routine now, for Taekwoon to gauge Hakyeon’s mental state, every sunset, and then once again as they were winding down for sunrise. 

“I think they’re getting used to it,” Hakyeon said softly, as he blinked slowly up at the night sky. “Wonshik and Hongbin. They’re getting used to me being a vampire.”

“You are as well,” Taekwoon murmured.

Hakyeon shifted, pulling back into himself a little. Perhaps. It was a difficult thing to get used to. All at once, everything had changed, and yet so much was still the same. Inside, he was still the same, which was an odd sensation, when his body, his existence, had become something so other.

Hakyeon wondered if he was actually adjusting, or if he was just detached, not yet reconciling the person he was— is— with what he was now. 

When he looked into the mirror, he saw a vampire, and he knew it was himself, even if the image wasn’t precisely what he was accustomed to seeing, but he still couldn’t process it. The creature in the looking glass wasn’t him, yet. 

“How long did it take you to really— get used to it?” Hakyeon asked. He grasped one of Taekwoon’s hands, playing with his fingers idly, memorizing the lines.

“Many years,” Taekwoon said. “Things shifted slowly, for me. But I was turned unwillingly, and was in denial for a great deal of time.”

Hakyeon closed his hand over Taekwoon’s, squeezing lightly. “I’m going to be alright,” he murmured, and inside, he actually believed it. He was strong. And he had Taekwoon. After everything he’d been through — he’d _died_ — he could do this. He really could. 

“Yes,” Taekwoon said, “you are.”

Hakyeon shifted, tipping his face upwards. Taekwoon had a slight smile on his face, and he wordlessly obliged Hakyeon, leaning down to brush his lips over Hakyeon’s softly. 

A sound filtered through the whisper of the breeze, faint as a sigh, but Hakyeon heard it, and it made him still, all his muscles freezing, locking, as his mind latched onto the rhythmic beat. It was the sound of a human heart, far off, blocks and blocks, but Hakyeon could _hear_ it. 

“Hakyeon?” Taekwoon asked.

It took effort, for Hakyeon to get his body to fall out of its point mode, to relax enough to take a breath, unnecessary but calming. “Someone is going into work early,” Hakyeon said, voice thick. His fangs slid out, as he thought of what a heartbeat meant. Blood, warm, coppery, thick on his tongue—

Hakyeon shut his eyes tightly, trying to block it out. He’d fed tonight already. He wasn’t going to do so again. To distract himself, he pressed the tip of his tongue to one of his fangs, pricking it slightly, and the pain was nice, grounding him some. He really wanted to bite into something, the fangs causing a strange, heavy ache in his mouth. 

His tongue healed, so Hakyeon bit his bottom lip, carefully, another slight prick. It didn’t really do much.

Taekwoon made a noise, hand coming up to cup the side of Hakyeon’s face. He ran his thumb over Hakyeon’s bottom lip, smearing the little drop of blood there. “Don’t.”

Hakyeon twisted his face away. “It’s fine, I heal, and it helps a bit, you know?” He knew Taekwoon would understand. “I— I expected the hunger, but it’s weird also having like, the desire to perform the action of biting, to simply want to sink my teeth into flesh for the feeling of it, even outside of the hunger.” He gave Taekwoon a wobbly smile, keeping his lips sealed over it because he didn’t think a fangy smile would be reassuring. “I’m okay.”

Taekwoon was frowning slightly. “Biting yourself is not going to help.”

“Yeah, well,” Hakyeon huffed, “I am not feeding for a second time tonight, so it’s the next best—”

“You could bite me.”

Hakyeon choked. “I— what?”

“You could bite me,” Taekwoon repeated, voice level. “My blood will not satiate the hunger, but the action of biting would be— satisfying, for you.”

The idea sent a lot of things swirling through Hakyeon’s mind, questions, confusion. What eventually popped out on top and thus out of Hakyeon’s mouth was, “But that would hurt you.”

Taekwoon ducked his head, but Hakyeon knew he was smiling. “I have bitten you countless times.”

“Yeah, but,” Hakyeon said, slowly, because he was so thrown off kilter, “that was different. I was human. You were— you needed the blood. We’re both vampires now.”

A pause. “Hakyeon,” Taekwoon said, “have you been— did you think that because we are both vampires now, that I was not going to bite you ever again?”

Hakyeon blinked, because yes, that was exactly what he’d thought. “I— well— yeah?” He might have said more, might have tried to explain his reasoning, but then Taekwoon was laughing at him. “Hey!”

Taekwoon, to his credit, tried to smother his laughter. “If it was something you did not enjoy, then yes, I would have ceased after your turning, but I was always under the impression that you quite enjoyed it.” His eyes were twinkling when he looked at Hakyeon. “We’ve not made love with you thus as of yet, you’ve been too preoccupied, and I want things to settle, a bit, before we resume that part of our relationship.” Hakyeon’s stomach swooped, and he felt a burst of fondness for Taekwoon, always thinking of him, his wellbeing. “But had we made love, you would have found that biting would still very much be a part of our bedroom activities.”

Hakyeon swallowed thickly. “I guess I just never thought vampires would— bite one another.”

“Biting is a very intimate thing. As is sex. For our kind, the two overlap quite a lot. Even when both parties are vampires.”

Hakyeon curled his hands into fists at the thought. He was glad, to not be leaving that part of their sex life behind. He’d always enjoyed Taekwoon biting him, maybe more than he should have. The idea that he could now reciprocate that though—

Hakyeon’s gaze darted to Taekwoon’s neck, and he had to grit his teeth, because he _wanted_. And that was such a foreign feeling that it almost shook the desire right out of him. But only almost. 

Taekwoon was watching him, the glint of amusement still in his eyes, but there was something more intense to him, now. He’d seen Hakyeon look at his neck. 

Hakyeon wet his lips. “I— I always liked you biting me, liked the pain of it,” he whispered. “But I didn’t— I don’t— that is, I don’t want to hurt you if—”

Taekwoon leaned in slightly, letting his head tilt, so more of his neck was bared, pale and smooth. “Hakyeon,” Taekwoon murmured, “I want you to.”

Hakyeon tried to bite back a whimper and didn’t quite succeed. Taekwoon tipped his head, just a little more, and Hakyeon found himself swaying forward, almost involuntary. He nosed at the side of Taekwoon’s neck. There was no pulse to follow, but the skin was soft, Taekwoon’s smell familiar and welcome. 

“Are you sure?” Hakyeon whispered, his lips brushing against Taekwoon’s skin. He pressed a soft, open mouthed kiss right over where Taekwoon’s jugular was, silent and still without a heartbeat. His made sure his fangs dragged lightly over the skin, teasing, and Taekwoon trembled.

“Mm,” Taekwoon hummed in assent, and Hakyeon bit.


End file.
